CNN’s Don Lemon spoke to Chris Paul and Taylor Rooks about the NBA bubble and player advocacy that took place inside.
On National Voter Registration Day, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Chris Paul joined CITIZEN by CNN with Don Lemon and was joined by reporter Taylor Rooks.
They talked about the the group he co-chairs When We All Vote, advocacy in the NBA bubble and topics surrounding social injustice.
While the Thunder were in the bubble, Paul made sure to spend time during press conferences talking about about racial inequality and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
When Rooks asked him about it Tuesday, he pointed out that he was not the only one.
“There were a number of guys who spoke out on things, day in and day out,” he said, specifying Jaylen Brown, Andre Iguodala and CJ McCollum.
“The intensity of the game is real. Everything that goes into the game, the preparation, the practices, and all this different type of stuff, but guys – we were away from our families. And all of this stuff is going on, and it weighed on guys heavily.”
That was an important piece of Paul’s CNN interview. He pointed out that while they may be star athletes on the court, once they’re off, they’re normal people.
“If you saw Jamal Murray when he had that unbelievable game in the playoffs, he was in tears because we are human beings,” Paul said.
“Yes we’re talented, yes we like to play the game that we love, yes you see us on TV all the time, but as soon as these games are over, we go back to being regular people with our families.”
Because of that, what they see in the world weighs on them as much as it does people with normal 9-5 jobs. In the bubble, away from families, players had less to focus on and more time to discuss the world among themselves.
That’s something that helped these organized protests and strikes take place.
“What happens a lot of times during the NBA season is you play against guys on other teams, and after the game you say, ‘Alright man, how’s your family,’ and everybody just says ‘Good’ and you go separate ways,” Paul said.
“We really got a chance to connect in the bubble, we got a chance to really spend time with each other, we really got a chance to sit down at the table and figure out what we want our plan to be going forward.”
Lemon asked Paul about how he would respond to people who dislike the protests, including President Donald Trump, who, as Lemon noted, called Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players who knelt during the National Anthem to protest police brutality “sons of (expletive).”
“It’s unfortunate cause the people will cheer for you while you’re playing the games, or while you’re running up and down the field or up and down the court, but I think what we have all come to understand is that we have to do what we think is right,” Paul said.
“You have to stand for something and at the end of the day when you have kids and different people watching, you understand that it’s bigger than what he’s saying and all the name calling.”
Lemon also asked Paul if he had a preference in the presidential election.
Paul did not answer directly, but instead said it’s “unbelievably important to respect the office.”
“When I was a young kid in school, one thing about the president – I didn’t know politics as a kid, but I knew if it was (George W.) Bush, if it was (Bill) Clinton, I respected the office. And I think that that’s very important for my kids, to make sure that they respect whoever is in office,” he said.
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